The incident occurred in Cincinnati in 1884. A young man named William Berner was brought to trial for the murder of his boss, a prominent stable owner. Seven witnesses testified against Berner but, instead of being found guilty of murder, he was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Two days later an angry mob stormed the jail to lynch Berner where they found out he had been moved to another prison for his safety. Over the next few days the courthouse was destroyed in what would be known as the Cincinnati Courthoue Riots, some of the most desctructive riots in American history.
The reason Berner was able to get off was because of Republican lawyer Thomas C. Campbell. He was able to rig the jury to returned a verdict of manslaughter. Taft worked as a junior prosecutor during the disbarment of Campbell and found the collection of evidence against his fellow Cincinnati lawyer to be exhilarating. Doris Goodwin, in The Bully Pulpit, uses this example of Taft’s work as a direct comparison to future President Teddy Roosevelt’s work to rid the New York State Legislature of "party" politics. She contends that both men, early in their careers, found their voices in working to undo the influence held by old-guard statesmen over local politics, particularly within the courts.
